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gracie_musica) wrote2009-01-28 05:28 pm
gracie_musica) wrote2009-01-28 05:28 pm
Entry tags:
Footnotes -- The Stone Rose
Title: Footnotes
Chapter Seven: The Stone Rose
Date Written: 1/28/09
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: 1,304
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato, Suzie Costello
Spoilers: Season 02 of Doctor Who, Torchwood 01, and for the Tenth Doctor Adventure novel The Stone Rose
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Thanks so very much to my darling betas![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
totally4ryo and katestamps. I know I've been sorta fail-y at posting these, but this one gave me headaches for a long while. Set before Owen joins the team.
Summaries for the books can be found at Wikipedia, at the Doctor Who wiki, and at Doctorwhoguide.com.
Previous chapters found here.
When Toshiko joined Torchwood, she joined under certain provisions. The main one -- and the hardest one -- was that she was not allowed to have contact with her mother. None whatsoever.
Jack, however, was having none of that. The way he fought for Tosh to have contact and visitation with her mother and family made her realize that Jack must have lost someone. Someone he loved dearly. He sympathized with her the way someone who'd suffered similarly did, and wanted to make sure she never faced the type of pain he had.
At first it was only letters. Once a month she was allowed to write and write and write about everything but work (in Japanese, from long habit) and send them to a hospice in London. Jack had reassured Tosh that the time her mother had spent captive had been wiped from her memory, and her letters proved true. She talked about an auto accident and a brief coma, and outlined physical therapy days.
Then Jack started sneaking more and more letters; once a week, then daily emails. When Tosh asked if it was okay, he just winked at her and told her to carry on.
Her first Christmas in Torchwood, she got the best present ever. Jack handed her a train ticket to London and told her to come back in a week. She'd busted ass for Torchwood Cardiff (to use the Captain's phrase) and he was giving her a holiday.
Her mother met her at the train station in London.
She'd come back to Cardiff brimming with happiness. Suzie commented that it was like she was a new person. Jack laughed and demanded to see the pictures he was certain they'd taken.
She'd responded by bringing back four developed rolls of film. And that wasn't even half the pictures she'd taken.
"That's me and my brother," Tosh said, laughing when Jack waggled his eyebrows.
"Veeeeeery nice." He started thumbing through the pictures. "You went to British Museum?"
"A very boring family outing, I'm sure," she replied, and Jack laughed again.
"It's perfectly fine, Tosh, I'm glad you had a good time."
"I did." She gave him a smile before nervously running her hands over the polished wood of his desk. "If I may...?"
"I know Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart," Jack told her before winking. "We go back a fair bit. I asked if he would take a look at the terms of your employment and... well, you know how that went." He grinned.
"I can't ever thank you enough," she said.
"Don't worry about it," Jack said, turning his attention back to the pictures. He smiled at one photo of Tosh and her mother standing in front of a Roman statue. "Happy employees do better quality work anyway..." He trailed off, frowning at the snapshot.
"I... I know her."
Tosh's eyebrows knit together in confusion. Was there someone Jack knew in the background, maybe? "What?" she asked, leaning in to get a better look.
"The model for this statue," Jack clarified. "I know her!"
Tosh put her hands on her hips. "That's patently impossible, Jack, that statue was made over 2,000 years ago," she said slowly, as if the Captain was mental.
"Welcome to Torchwood, Tosh, nothing is impossible," Jack said, standing. He pushed the comm. "Suzie! Pack a bag, we're going to London!"
-----
"I think he's finally lost it."
Suzie snorted in amusement, but she shrugged at the same time. "Who says he ever really had it to begin with?"
Jack, who was dropping a handful of coins into the donation box, turned and gave one of those roguish grins he was fond of. "That's our Suzie-Q, always on the up-and-up."
"Got your number, Harkness," Suzie put in.
Tosh looked down at her modified PDA, covering a bit of unease by working. She was still very much on the outside; Jack and Suzie had a very easy camaraderie, the kind she'd always had to work so hard at. They didn't mean it, she knew that, but she was still excluded.
Maths were so much easier.
The halls were empty, the Torchwood name letting them in after hours. Tosh led the way to the Roman art exhibit. Suzie stopped to study a few pieces as they walked, but Jack kept a running commentary as they passed the unseeing busts of long-dead Roman emperors. Toshiko tried to pay attention to what the Captain was saying, but when he launched int a fantastic story about an orgy in Pompeii, like he'd been there, she gave up on him. Suzie caught her gaze and rolled her eyes, silently saying that she didn't believe a word Jack said either.
The Captain fell silent when they approached the statue Toshiko and her mother had taken their picture with. The girls stepped up and scanned the statue with their PDAs, a nifty program Tosh had written on the ride to London carbon dating it without damaging the stone. "It says it was made cira AD 50," she informed Jack after a long moment.
They both turned to look over at him when the Captain didn't reply to their findings. Jack was staring at the statue -- the goddess Hera, according to the placard in front of it, holding a cornucopia -- and he looked like he was almost on the verge of tears.
"Oh my God," he breathed. "It's her." Tosh and Suzie exchanged a curious look when Jack stepped up to look at the statue. "It's really her." He raised one hand to touch a white marble cheek. "Rose, what happened to you?"
The name didn't ring any bells, but Tosh could see the anguish on Jack's face. She reached out and touched Jack's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
The contact seemed to snap Jack out of whatever reverie he was in, and he gave her a thankful smile. "Right. Tip it over, I want a look at this signature."
Between the three of them, they managed to tip it over far enough so Toshiko could take a snapshot of the signature on the base. When they were setting it right side up, however, Suzie overcompensated and the statue wobbled dangerously. Jack let out a little cry, grabbing at the arm not holding the horn of plenty, and let out a yelp when the arm fell right off the statue. Suzie and Toshiko managed to steady it while Jack looked down at the arm in his hands like he was about to burst into tears.
Suzie, thankfully, knew just what to say. "Look Jack, it was already wired in. See?" She held up the arm, revealing some heavy-gauge wires sticking out of the end. "I'll go tell the curator about this now, okay?"
That seemed to upset him even more, but he put on a brave face and nodded. Suzie hurried off towards the main office, and Tosh slid up next to Jack. "You really do know this Rose person, don't you?"
"Yes. Not yet." He looked over at her and tilted his head this way and that. "It's complicated."
"I'm sure she's just fine, wherever she is," she ventured. When Jack looked at her in surprise, she held out her PDA, showing Jack the signature.
He wrenched the PDA out of her hands when he caught a good look at the screen, blue eyes widening. "No... No way."
"What?"
Laughter bubbled up out of nowhere, and he scooped her up into his arms, hugging her tight. "Ah, Doc! It's not her! She's safe."
"What are you talking about, Jack?"
He didn't answer, just set the petite woman back on her feet and hurried down after Suzie, his coat flapping like a superhero's cape.
Toshiko looked up at the unseeing eyes of Rose-Hera. "This job gets stranger and stranger every day," she confided in the statue.
Chapter Seven: The Stone Rose
Date Written: 1/28/09
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: 1,304
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato, Suzie Costello
Spoilers: Season 02 of Doctor Who, Torchwood 01, and for the Tenth Doctor Adventure novel The Stone Rose
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Thanks so very much to my darling betas
totally4ryo and katestamps. I know I've been sorta fail-y at posting these, but this one gave me headaches for a long while. Set before Owen joins the team.Summaries for the books can be found at Wikipedia, at the Doctor Who wiki, and at Doctorwhoguide.com.
Previous chapters found here.
When Toshiko joined Torchwood, she joined under certain provisions. The main one -- and the hardest one -- was that she was not allowed to have contact with her mother. None whatsoever.
Jack, however, was having none of that. The way he fought for Tosh to have contact and visitation with her mother and family made her realize that Jack must have lost someone. Someone he loved dearly. He sympathized with her the way someone who'd suffered similarly did, and wanted to make sure she never faced the type of pain he had.
At first it was only letters. Once a month she was allowed to write and write and write about everything but work (in Japanese, from long habit) and send them to a hospice in London. Jack had reassured Tosh that the time her mother had spent captive had been wiped from her memory, and her letters proved true. She talked about an auto accident and a brief coma, and outlined physical therapy days.
Then Jack started sneaking more and more letters; once a week, then daily emails. When Tosh asked if it was okay, he just winked at her and told her to carry on.
Her first Christmas in Torchwood, she got the best present ever. Jack handed her a train ticket to London and told her to come back in a week. She'd busted ass for Torchwood Cardiff (to use the Captain's phrase) and he was giving her a holiday.
Her mother met her at the train station in London.
She'd come back to Cardiff brimming with happiness. Suzie commented that it was like she was a new person. Jack laughed and demanded to see the pictures he was certain they'd taken.
She'd responded by bringing back four developed rolls of film. And that wasn't even half the pictures she'd taken.
"That's me and my brother," Tosh said, laughing when Jack waggled his eyebrows.
"Veeeeeery nice." He started thumbing through the pictures. "You went to British Museum?"
"A very boring family outing, I'm sure," she replied, and Jack laughed again.
"It's perfectly fine, Tosh, I'm glad you had a good time."
"I did." She gave him a smile before nervously running her hands over the polished wood of his desk. "If I may...?"
"I know Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart," Jack told her before winking. "We go back a fair bit. I asked if he would take a look at the terms of your employment and... well, you know how that went." He grinned.
"I can't ever thank you enough," she said.
"Don't worry about it," Jack said, turning his attention back to the pictures. He smiled at one photo of Tosh and her mother standing in front of a Roman statue. "Happy employees do better quality work anyway..." He trailed off, frowning at the snapshot.
"I... I know her."
Tosh's eyebrows knit together in confusion. Was there someone Jack knew in the background, maybe? "What?" she asked, leaning in to get a better look.
"The model for this statue," Jack clarified. "I know her!"
Tosh put her hands on her hips. "That's patently impossible, Jack, that statue was made over 2,000 years ago," she said slowly, as if the Captain was mental.
"Welcome to Torchwood, Tosh, nothing is impossible," Jack said, standing. He pushed the comm. "Suzie! Pack a bag, we're going to London!"
-----
"I think he's finally lost it."
Suzie snorted in amusement, but she shrugged at the same time. "Who says he ever really had it to begin with?"
Jack, who was dropping a handful of coins into the donation box, turned and gave one of those roguish grins he was fond of. "That's our Suzie-Q, always on the up-and-up."
"Got your number, Harkness," Suzie put in.
Tosh looked down at her modified PDA, covering a bit of unease by working. She was still very much on the outside; Jack and Suzie had a very easy camaraderie, the kind she'd always had to work so hard at. They didn't mean it, she knew that, but she was still excluded.
Maths were so much easier.
The halls were empty, the Torchwood name letting them in after hours. Tosh led the way to the Roman art exhibit. Suzie stopped to study a few pieces as they walked, but Jack kept a running commentary as they passed the unseeing busts of long-dead Roman emperors. Toshiko tried to pay attention to what the Captain was saying, but when he launched int a fantastic story about an orgy in Pompeii, like he'd been there, she gave up on him. Suzie caught her gaze and rolled her eyes, silently saying that she didn't believe a word Jack said either.
The Captain fell silent when they approached the statue Toshiko and her mother had taken their picture with. The girls stepped up and scanned the statue with their PDAs, a nifty program Tosh had written on the ride to London carbon dating it without damaging the stone. "It says it was made cira AD 50," she informed Jack after a long moment.
They both turned to look over at him when the Captain didn't reply to their findings. Jack was staring at the statue -- the goddess Hera, according to the placard in front of it, holding a cornucopia -- and he looked like he was almost on the verge of tears.
"Oh my God," he breathed. "It's her." Tosh and Suzie exchanged a curious look when Jack stepped up to look at the statue. "It's really her." He raised one hand to touch a white marble cheek. "Rose, what happened to you?"
The name didn't ring any bells, but Tosh could see the anguish on Jack's face. She reached out and touched Jack's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
The contact seemed to snap Jack out of whatever reverie he was in, and he gave her a thankful smile. "Right. Tip it over, I want a look at this signature."
Between the three of them, they managed to tip it over far enough so Toshiko could take a snapshot of the signature on the base. When they were setting it right side up, however, Suzie overcompensated and the statue wobbled dangerously. Jack let out a little cry, grabbing at the arm not holding the horn of plenty, and let out a yelp when the arm fell right off the statue. Suzie and Toshiko managed to steady it while Jack looked down at the arm in his hands like he was about to burst into tears.
Suzie, thankfully, knew just what to say. "Look Jack, it was already wired in. See?" She held up the arm, revealing some heavy-gauge wires sticking out of the end. "I'll go tell the curator about this now, okay?"
That seemed to upset him even more, but he put on a brave face and nodded. Suzie hurried off towards the main office, and Tosh slid up next to Jack. "You really do know this Rose person, don't you?"
"Yes. Not yet." He looked over at her and tilted his head this way and that. "It's complicated."
"I'm sure she's just fine, wherever she is," she ventured. When Jack looked at her in surprise, she held out her PDA, showing Jack the signature.
He wrenched the PDA out of her hands when he caught a good look at the screen, blue eyes widening. "No... No way."
"What?"
Laughter bubbled up out of nowhere, and he scooped her up into his arms, hugging her tight. "Ah, Doc! It's not her! She's safe."
"What are you talking about, Jack?"
He didn't answer, just set the petite woman back on her feet and hurried down after Suzie, his coat flapping like a superhero's cape.
Toshiko looked up at the unseeing eyes of Rose-Hera. "This job gets stranger and stranger every day," she confided in the statue.